Stolen Away
by Zephyra of Breeze
Summary: There has always been three. Courage, Power, Wisdom. But when one of the three commits an unspeakable act and reduces them to two, the thin line between reality tears. People are stolen from eras all over Hyrule, and they want to go home. Is it possible?
1. Prologue: Violet Light

Boots pounded down the cobblestone street as a small Deku boy crashed through the crowd

_Authors Note: I swear it will get better from here… this is just the prologue._

Boots pounded down the cobblestone street as a small Deku boy crashed through the crowd. He could hear the guards, and an angry merchant, yelling.

"Stop!"

"Halt!"

"You thief!"

He clutched a sack protectively to his chest as he stumbled on a loose stone and nearly fell. He righted himself and continued running, weaving between people in a frustrating zigzag pattern. He could see town guards in front of him now. He veered to left, his floppy hat nearly falling off his wooden head as he darted down a narrow alley. He then slowed, noticing a strange purple glow emanating from an abandoned shop's window.

"I've got you now, Deku kid."

He felt a gloved hand grab at his shoulder and reflexively jerked away, diving through the window of the shop. There was a loud hissing sound, and the glow faded. When the guards kicked down the door they found it empty, with no sign of the violet light.

Katonju lay back and stretched happily, feeling the sun warm her face. She laughed, and said gleefully, "This is so great! It's so dark in town all the time, but out here in Zora Bay..." She didn't bother to finish. Jimmi, her best friend, always knew what she meant anyway. He nodded, seeming strangely nervous, and twisted his hands together. "Er, Katonju--"

"Relax; my mom would never leave the inn, what with the festival coming up and all the people needing somewhere to stay. Besides, she thinks I'm studying zombies in Ikana with your mom."

"No, I need to say... oh never mind."

Katonju looked at him for a moment, trying to decipher his strange hesitation. Then she sighed. Things had become complicated between them over the past years for some reason. Jimmi asked her quietly,

"Are you going to the concert tonight?"

"Of course I am! I never miss a Zora concert!" Micki, Lou, and Jessjess, some of her Zora friends, were in a band called the Indigogos. They played with their mother and their mother's friends. Their four siblings, however, had found other professions. For instance, Evvi was a treasure hunter, while Reia ran a boomerang game at the beach, not far from where they currently were.

"Wait." Katonju snapped out of her reverie, listening intently. The sound of hoof beats echoed against the cliffs. The two teenagers could hear a quiet voice they both recognized.

"Good morning, Fisherman. Have you seen a young girl and boy go past?"

A woman with fiery hair was questioning the Fisherman outside his hut.

"Oh, that's just great," Katonju whispered to Jimmi "It's Cremia!" Her mother must have sent her. How could she have found out so quickly?

"We should hide, maybe?" Jimmi suggested. Katonju nodded, edging along the cliff face towards the passage to the waterfall. They had only seconds before Cremia--

"Hey! I see you!"

The two teens began running. Jimmi slipped on some seaweed left by the tide, but Katonju made it to the stone passage. Jimmi heard her scream. He scrambled to his feet in time to watch her pulled by long, violet tendrils into some sort of purple portal. It shrank to a pinprick and vanished, taking Katonju with it.

On a stormy afternoon on the side of a mountain rearing out of the sea, a young Rito boy stood gazing out at the ocean. It would be his last time seeing this view as a flightless child.

"Are you ready, Aroon?" A voice asked behind him.

Without turning he knew who was speaking.

"Almost," he replied to his twin sister Allis. He gathered his thoughts and gave her an almost convincing smile, but she knew him too well. She hooked her thin, featherless arm around his. "It won't be that bad."

She led him into the main chamber where a party was already going on. He had been to many of these parties before, but this time was different. This was his party, his and his sister's, because the next day they would come of age.

At Dawn Aroon woke up. He was given nothing but water and blindfolded. He and his sister were led outside. Then their ordeal began. They removed their blindfolds and began to climb. Aroon's stomach growled loudly.

"Just a bit further," his sister laughed, reaching down from the ledge she was kneeling on to pull him up. He looked past her, over her shoulder, and saw that their goal was just ten feet away.

Allis and Aroon looked at each other.

His sister smiled. "Ladies first!"

She leaped up, grabbing at another rock spire. Aroon followed. As he hoisted himself over the edge, he saw the dragon. Valoo. Fat and red, reclining on the rocks, smoke tumbling out of his nostrils. His sister looked back at him, panting from the climb. The old attendant, Medli, hobbled forward. Aroon rolled his eyes, sure she was going to babble about the 'adventures' she'd had when she was young. None of the Rito children believed her at all. But today the attendant was silent. She merely handed them delicate wings cut out of thin, pale paper. The twins laid them on the rock before the dragon. For a moment, nothing happened, and then Valoo breathed fire, surrounding the wings with light. Instead of burning, however, the wings seemed to shrink to a pinpoint, and then began to glow. The twins stepped forward, taking their floating lights in their hands. They shut their eyes, swaying as if surrounded by a strong wind. And then it was over. They looked down at their arms, feeling a new power in their muscles and bones. Aroon shook his arm once, fiercely, watching as feathers burst out of his skin, becoming a wing. He looked up, eyes glistening with thankful tears, at Valoo.

Valoo was gone. In his place was a swirling purple portal. He stared at it, and heard music. Medli was playing her harp, a song he'd never heard before. She opened her eyes and looked straight at him.

"It's time for an adventure, boy."

A purple tentacle shot out of the portal, wrapping around his wrist, and pulling him closer to the light. Allis screamed, backing away. Then he was pulled through, and he couldn't hear her anymore.

Myro carefully tuned his Fairy Vio, holding his green hat to his side with his elbow. It was weighted down with the few rupees he'd been able to make today. His hat, along with his clothes and Gipis, his fairy, were bad for business. The towns' people seemed to all think that the small Kokiri was dressed up specially to play "The Ballad of the Hero of Time". It was a song he didn't know. When he told them this, however, they seemed disappointed. The only songs he knew were traditional to the Kokiri; dancing songs, mostly, but also a few with strange powers. He finished tuning, and tucked the small, round body of the instrument under his chin, holding the bow in his left hand and the end of the instrument in his right. He carefully put the bow to his strings, and began to play. The powerful song hung in the air, and as people turned to him, their eyes drooped tiredly. The girl nearby was already on her knees. Myro continued to play until he was the only being still on his feet in all of Castle Town Courtyard. The Zoras selling fish were sleeping leaning against a young brunette woman clutching a chicken. An old woman in a blue dress was using a small, fluffy dog as a pillow, its jeweled leash looped around her wrist. Myro lifted the bow, looking around. No one stirred. He picked his way between the sleeping forms as his fairy reprimanded him.

"This is wrong, Myro. Even if we don't have enough money for food, you shouldn't steal it!"

"Shut up, Gipis," Myro replied tiredly, swiping some bread from a small stand at the edge of the market place. He took the five rupees from his hat, all he had been able to make, and left them on the counter, nearby the hand of the owner. It was less than half of what the bread was worth. He looked around.

"You shouldn't use that song for things like that! It's sacred!" Gipis continued a running commentary, telling Myro everything that was wrong with the situation. Myro rolled his eyes.

To anyone else the small green fairy's yells would sound like random dings, but Myro, his bonded Kokiri, could understand him perfectly. Unfortunately.

"Hey, what's that?" Myro looked up at the purple light that showed around the corner.

"Urg, I feel sick. It must be magic. Don't go any closer!" Gipis instructed urgently.

Myro ignored him. "Maybe it's worth something?" He walked closer, Gipis following him. They rounded the corner. If anyone had been awake, they would have heard a yell and an alarmed ding. But no one was awake. When the townspeople were finally conscious once more, all they could find of the thief was a small, green and pointy hat lying in the dirt.

"REEN?!" Reen jumped behind a crate, hugging her mother's ornate staff close, and trying desperately hard to stay hidden.

"REEEEEEEN!"

Another scream echoed through the hall of the fortress. Reen leapt to her feet and started running. She dashed for the stairs, and sprinted up them three steps at a time. Why had she thought it was a good idea to steal her mother's Swordstaff? Sure, it had been fun to show off to her friends, to talk about how she would be Gerudo Chief one day, but when her mother found out--

"REEEEEN!!"

She winced and put on an extra burst of speed. Reen turned into a room that was divided into three: two cells with bars and one main to connect the two, with pots at the corners. She leaned against the doorway with one hand, panting. She felt a tug at the scarf around her neck, and turned. The scarf was pulled away into the cell as she turned to look.

Later, a guard entered the room, and found it empty. The Swordstaff and the Gerudo heir were not found that day.

"Tomorrow is your sixteenth birthday, Dar," his mother said.

"I know, I know, Sheikah right of passage, earrings, blahdedah I got it." Dar said tiredly. He had had this speech before. Although he was only half Sheikah, he had never known his human father, and his mother had raised him in the way of her people.

"Well, yes," his mother replied, "But there's something else. I would like you to meet someone." Dar was intrigued. He followed her out of the wing of the castle they lived in, and through the gardens. His mother greeted the guards by name as they passed. Finally, they entered the Queen's Courtyard; somewhere Dar had heard of but never entered. The court yard was surrounded on all sides by white stone walls, except for the door, and had a river running along the edge. There were flowers in square pots, and strange paintings, of creatures Dar had never seen, could be glimpsed through the windows. But Dar's eyes were drawn by the two tall Hylians standing on the raised stone dais. One was holding a well-wrapped bundle in her arms. Dar dropped to his knees before the King and Queen of Hyrule.

"Rise," Queen Zelda commanded him. "Impa, you say the boy is reliable?"

Dar's mother nodded. "Yes, Milady. His name is Dar."

The Queen nodded. "Dar, please look at me."

"Your Highness?" The regal woman placed the bonded she was holding in his arms. Dar looked down at the face of a tiny, golden haired baby.

"This is Prince Lee"

Dar drew in his breath. In his arms he held the future king of Hyrule.

"When he is older, Dar, you will be his body guard and his best friend, just as Impa was for me. You will be there whenever he needs something... Whatever happens to his father and me."

Dar looked at them, surprised.

"You never know. Just because we are monarchs does not make us immortal."

He turned his eyes on the baby in his arms, surprised by her answer. Prince Lee slowly opened large, sky-blue eyes. Then he smiled.

"Ooh, that's his first smile! I am so jealous!" Queen Zelda sounded much less regal now, and friendlier.

Dar smiled back at the baby. "Yes, your majesties. I will care for him to the best of my abilities. I-- I will give my life for him, if necessary." Zelda nodded, satisfied, as Dar handed back her son. Dar bowed to her, and then to the ever silent king. He glanced at his mother. She beamed, pride radiating off her face.

Later that night, as Dar sat in his room and remembered the Prince's first smile, a purple flash illuminated the room and he was gone.

_Authors Note: _

_Katonju: Goddess! ANOTHER ONE?? You just can keep your mouth shut, can you?_

_Well, for those who were curious. ___

_Deku boy is from Termina (you'll learn his name later.)_

_Katonju is as well. She is the daughter of Kafei and Anju._

_Aroon is from The Great Sea (windwaker world.) Yes, that is the same Medli_

_Myro is from Hyrule, after Ocarina but before Twilight. (NO VAMPIRES IN THE ZELDA WORLD!!)_

_Reen is also from Hyrule._

_Dar is from Hyrule. Just like Katonju, he is from directly after the game took place. ____ They're the only ones whose parents are in a game. (His mom is Impa, if you missed that.)_


	2. Chapter one: Without a name

The sun rose on a forest full of trees whose leaves where just beginning to return after a cold winter

The sun rose on a forest full of trees whose leaves where just beginning to return after a cold winter. The temperature was surprisingly warm for early spring. In a small clearing, a young Terminian girl slept. She had long red-violet hair that was partially pulled up into two buns, and was sensibly dressed in a purple wool tunic over a white shirt. Thick leather gloves hinted at her profession, as did the quarrel-- currently empty of arrows-- that was strapped to her waist.

She slowly opened her violet eyes. Where was she? This wasn't her home. Normally from her bed she could see the cracks in the walls that resembled a mouse, or, on the other side, her father's keaton mask hanging on the wall. She heard a small rustle behind her, like someone changing position. She sat up.

"Wah!" There was a person sitting cross-legged there, about her age, probably male with white hair that was pulled into a small ponytail. The lower half of his face was obscured with a black cloth mask, and he was similarly dressed in black, with strange eye markings on the backs of his gloves.

"Who are you?" She gasped, fumbling for her bow, and realizing it was not strapped to her back as normal. Her memory began to return and she groaned, realizing she had left it at home when she and Jimmi had gone to the beach. She considered the frightening stranger. From the way his mask moved she thought maybe he smiled.

"My name is Dar. Are you a wizard?"

"Um. No. My name is Katonju." The refreshing thing about talking to someone who hadn't known her whole life was that he made no crack about her how her name was a scrambling of her parents'. He just nodded.

"Then you do not know who or what made that purple light?"

She gasped, remembering. "No! What was that?"

"Some kind of portal." Dar looked around. "I can't get rid of this hunch I have that I've been here before." He stood up.

Katonju too got to her feet, brushing dirt off her skirt. Sleeping in her clothes--not to mention her boots-- was not necessarily a fun experience. She stretched, feeling the bones in her back pop. By the time she was done, the stranger--Dar, that was his name-- had vanished. "Hey! Where did you go?"

"Over here." She turned. He was examining something she hadn't seen before; an old tree that looked like it had been there for hundreds of years. There were no leaves, and it was quite short; it was basically a hunk of wood twice as tall as they were and about fifteen feet in diameter. There seemed to be a ramp of sorts wrapped around the outside, and the bark near the top was discolored, a bit paler than the rest. She followed him, no longer afraid of this stranger, around to the other side.

"Whoa! It's kinda like a club house!" There was a door cut out of the wall, seemingly made for someone smaller than them. Their heads practically brushed it as they entered. Dar seemed to be muttering something.

"There is no way. I mean, we went there like last year. This kind of thing should take years..."

"It is just like a club house!" Katonju was delighted. "Look! There's a tiny bed, just the right size for a kid!"

"It's not a club house." Dar turned around. His eyes were wide in shock. "This house belonged to the Sage of Forest, Sarai. But the surrounding area is so overgrown! We used to accompany the King and Queen to Kokiri Village! It looked nothing like this!" He left the house, shaking his head. "But... "Katonju followed him. He was staring up at a tree house that had half fallen down. Katonju traced the drawings on one of the raised roots with her finger, wondering what child had carved them and when. "Dar, maybe you're confused."

"Or maybe I wasn't taken from my world... just from my time!"

The Deku boy wandered through the forest. He had never seen so many trees in one place before, growing up in Clock Town. Once, he had gone to the swamp, but those trees were different, more angular. He picked up a small piece of wood, rubbing it with his stubby gloved fingers, surprised at how much detail he could see and feel. It seemed to him that since entering this world, his senses of sight and touch had gotten stronger. The smell of smoke entered his tube like mouth/nose. He looked up, and saw a small house by the side of a dirt path, the path running perpendicular to the trail he had taken up till now. He dropped the fragment of wood and straightened his hat. Then he pulled himself to his respectable height of three-five and entered.

There was a thin redheaded boy, maybe ten years old, at the counter. Dar could see this was an inn. The boy took one look at the Deku boy and turned and hollered up the stairs: "Moooooooooooooom! Customers!" A woman, as redheaded as the boy but with a lot more freckles, hobbled into the room, the cause being a small girl--blonde, surprising after the woman and the boy-- sitting on her foot with both arms wrapped around her leg. The Deku boy looked at her in surprise. He hadn't noticed with the children, but he could tell the woman's clothing was very old fashioned. She wore a knee length tunic on over puffy breeches that reached her ankles. A checkered red and white apron was tied around her waist in a huge bow.

"Hello Ma'am," He said, pulling at the brim of his cap in his best manners. "I'm a Deku."

"I can see that. What's your name?" She was friendly but distracted as she knelt to disentangle the blonde child from her leg. "Now Merry, you need to let go of Mommy's leg, ok? Mommy can't work when you hold on like that." The little girl looked up at her and nodded once, solemnly, her little pigtails bobbing. Then she let go and went and sat on her brother's foot.

"MOM!! Merry's sittin' on me!" He yelled.

"Yes, hon, I can see that." She turned back to the Deku boy, who was watching, amused. "Sorry, I didn't catch that. Your name?"

"I don't have one." For a moment all three were silent. Then, just as the Deku boy was about to run, ashamed of disturbing their happy family life, the woman said:

"That's silly. You should. Mine is Joy. My daughter is Mercy, but we tend to call her Merry. The boy is January."

Deku boy looked Joy, confused. What did she want him to do? After a moment, Joy smiled. "Tell you what. If you pick a name and tell us your story, I'll give you food an' boardin for three days. Deal?"

She was so generous. She was more than generous. Deku boy was nearly in tears. He looked around, wondering what name he should choose. Traditionally, his kind was named after their professions: Trader, Butler, King. What was he? Nothing wasn't a name. Neither was Thief. Finally, he picked an item in the room and shouted it out. "Coat rack! I'll be Coat rack."

"Perfect. You're as thin as one and made of wood. I always say a name should describe something about the person, right Merry?" Merry nodded again. Deku boy... No, Coat rack... had yet to see her smile.


	3. Chapter two: Hero's Shadow

"Princess

"Princess."

Zelda sat up in shock, clutching her blankets to her chest. She looked around, studying her room. It seemed unearthly, the edges of her furniture illuminated by the light of the moon that streamed through her open curtains. Nothing was out of place. She was entirely alone. She sighed. The voice had just been a dream. What evidence did she have that it had not always been a dream? She settled back down, pulling her blankets up around her chin and shutting her eyes.

"Princess."

She opened her eyes, fear screaming through her mind, as it had every time she had this particular dream. Getting to her feet, Zelda hesitantly pulled on a pair of slippers. She exited her room, leaving her door open a tiny crack. Large windows were placed at intervals on the wall, the silver semicircles following the stairs in a downward spiral. She did not need a torch; the light was enough, and even in much dimmer light she would have been able to find her way. Every step was familiar to her feet. Since she could walk, this had been her room, at the top of the tower. Now she was seventeen, and knew the layout of the castle by heart. She started down the stairs. She knew there were one hundred-and-seventy-four steps; when she was eight she had counted. Still, in her dreamlike state, it seemed to take only seconds to reach the Hall of Kings. Despite the name, the portraits she passed were mostly of women. The hall was darker than the stairs, so Zelda pulled the first lit torch she passed out of its metal bracket. She waved a friendly hello to Queen Zelda the II, the one she resembled most of all. Several Zeldas and a few kings later she reached her mother. The portrait didn't resemble wasn't how the mother Zelda remembered; she remembered a happy, laughing woman, not this solemn-looking monarch. Still, she walked over to the picture and kissed it on the cheek. All the paint in that spot had been worn away. Ever since her mother died ten years ago, Zelda had made this a ritual.

"Hi Mom."

"Princess." She knew the voice didn't come from the painting. She turned and followed it down the hall and out into a garden. And there, in the shadow of the hedge, she saw him. He was older than when she had last seen him, but then he always was. He was not much more than a shadow himself; it was his bright eyes that gave his presence away. She sighed loudly, trying to hide her fear. Trembling, she said,

"I don't know what you hope to accomplish."

The shadow was silent. Once a year, for as long as she could remember, the night after her birthday she had heard his voice. Every year, his age had matched hers. There was something different this time, however. Approximately where his hands should be, he appeared to be holding an object encrusted with amethysts. She ignored it.

"I know who you are, Hero's Shadow."

Hero's Shadow bowed his head. He resembled the picture in the book exactly. Zelda took a deep breath.

"My great-great-great-too many greats grandfather defeated you in the Lakebed Temple. Please leave me alone."

As always, Hero's Shadow simply looked at her. Although she couldn't see his face very well, she saw sadness in his bright eyes, the only part of him that she could clearly see.

"Begone!" She knew there was only one way to get him to leave, besides waiting for sunrise. She thrust the torch at him. As the torch illuminated the corner of the hedge, he was gone. When she drew it back, scanning the hedge for his eyes, Hero's Shadow was clearly gone. She turned and slowly made her way back to her room.

…

Karis looked up as the door to the tavern swung open. His eyes widened at the strange girl who walked in. Dressed in a purple shirt and wide purple pants, the clothes she wore were so different from the average girl in the tavern that at first he didn't notice her other peculiarities. Then he noticed that she resembled some sort of bird, with a majestic hooked nose and beautiful yellow eyes. Her skin was a dark tan, and her hair a vibrant blood red, pulled away from her face. She stalked over to the counter. He placed both palms on the wooden counter and leaned forward, attempting to hide his surprise and admiration behind his good-natured smile.

"Can I help you?"

She slammed her hand down between his. He was struck again by the difference in their skin tones. When she pulled her hand away, a purple rupee lay where it had been.

"Don't flirt with me. What can I get with this?"

He looked at her. She couldn't be any older than fifteen, three years younger than him.

"Aren't you a bit young to be drinking?"

The arrogant girl gritted her teeth, frustrated.

"Food. Don't you serve food here?"

Karis decided perhaps it would be best to just give her what she wanted.

"Soup or bread and meat are all I can give you for twenty rupees."

"That's fine. What kind of soup?"

"Only one kind. Noodle soup."

"That's fine. I'll need to take it with me but I swear I'll bring the bowl back"

Karis didn't quite trust her. The innocent look in her eyes seemed fabricated. However, he could tell it was urgent.  
"It'll cost you five more rupees." He took his hands off the counter as she slapped five green rupees onto it. He gave her ladled her a bowl of soup and she left. He wondered if she would ever come back with his bowl.

"Are you awake?"

Aroon wasn't sure. He felt as though his eyelids were glued together.

"Open your mouth. Beak. Whatever."

He wasn't sure he could move anything. It didn't matter, because he felt fingers grab his beak and pull it open. Something warm glided down his throat. He cracked open his eyes and saw a girl who seemed human leaning over him. There was concern in her yellow eyes.

"Oh good, you are awake. I was afraid you were dead or something. That's a pretty bad bump on your head."

Once more she poured something into his mouth.

"Wuh—" He coughed. "What is that?"

She held up the bowl. "Soup. This nice man sold it to me. And he gave me the bowl."

Instantly suspicious, Aroon asked the girl, "He just gave it to you?"

"No-ooo, not exactly. But he made me pay a deposit for it, which is almost as good as me buying it, right?"

"What? No!" Aroon found the strength to sit up. The back of his head stung. "You take that bowl back right now!"

"But don't you want to finish the soup?"

Aroon looked at the bowl. There was something floating in the broth. "Are those worms?"

"Uh, no. They're noodles."

Aroon wondered what noodles were. "Well… Ok. But after that you're taking the bowl back."

"If you say so."


	4. Chapter three: Hereditary

Myro clutched his Fairy Vio to his chest, breathing hard

Myro clutched his Fairy Vio to his chest, breathing hard. Beside him, Gipis chattered angrily.  
"What was THAT?!" The small teal ball of light bounced up and down, upset.

"What was what?" Myro asked, tuning his instrument and trying to look unconcerned.

"The-The purple light! The warping! Why is everyone staring at us?"

Myro looked up. "Oh." Everyone was, indeed, staring at them. They had arrived in a marketplace similar to the one they had just left, but there were obvious differences. They were no longer on a backstreet; instead they found themselves standing on the edge of a large square. In the center was a well. They could see a café across from them. The people sitting at the outdoor tables were looking at him too. To the right, Myro saw the castle outlined against the rising sun. Its outline was different from the one he was remembered; there were more turrets, and a wall wrapped protectively around it, built from white stone.

Just then, a child burst out of the crowd in front of them, tugging his startled mother behind him.

"Mommy, Mommy, LOOK! He's being a Kokiri, isn't it funny?"

Myro and Gipis looked at each other. "Is she talking about us?" Gipis asked.

"Look look look! He did it again! He made the fairy talk!"

The two could hear sounds of approval from the crowd. Myro grinned and unbuckled his belt pouch, setting it open on the ground so that the humans and hylians (though now he looked he saw a much higher percentage of humans than normal) could throw rupees into it.

"Of course I'm a Kokiri. This is my fairy, Gipis." The crowd stared at him. "Say something, Gipis."

"What are you doing, Myro?" Gipis asked tiredly.

"He says nice to meet you." Myro confided to the crowd. The children laughed and clapped their hands.

"It jingled, the ball of light jingled! Do it again!"

"This is stupid." Gipis muttered.

The crowd laughed harder and green and blue rupees rained into Myro's pouch.

…

Katonju and Dar burst out of the forest and onto a dirt road.

"Yes! Now we know we weren't walking in circles." Katonju said, delighted.

Dar looked left and right. In both directions, the road turned a little into the trees, so he couldn't see more than thirty feet to either side. "Which way do we go?" He asked.

"Umm…" Katonju pondered.

"I vote west." Dar pointed to the left.

"That's west?"

"Yeah. Just look at the sun to figure out the directions."

Katonju mentally stored that information, in case she needed it later. "Why west?"

"That's the direction of the castle. Rule number one of Hyrule: The princess holds the answers."

"What?"

"The princess knows the legend."

Katonju looked at him, confused. "The legend?"

"Yes. The Legend of Zelda." Dar said in an important voice. The two turned and headed west.

"So you have kings and princesses?" Katonju asked as they walked.

"Yup. And queens and princes."

"We have mayors. Since we're just a town."

"Really? That's very democratic."

"Not really. It's actually a hereditary position. My dad is the mayor, and so was my granddad."

"Oh. Should I bow?"

"Please no." The two continued walking.

…

Myro pulled the brown cloak around his shoulders, buckling it under his chin. It hid nearly all of his green clothing, so unless people took notice of his emerald green hair, which stood out more here than it had back home, they would hopefully think him just another ten year old boy. It was great the amount of attention he and Gipis's show had been getting, but he wanted to be taken at least a little bit seriously the rest of the time. Gipis was in the cloak with him, hiding. If anyone looked too closely, they could see Gipis's cyan aura leaking out through the cloak. Myro hoped no one would look that close. He stepped out of the shadowy corner he was occupying, rubbing his small bracelet. The thin strip of leather, uneven edges sewn together by some one with no talent, had always brought him luck. He looked up. He was not the only one wearing a cloak, he realized. Good, he would blend in. He studied the other cloak wearer. The person was tall and thin, probably a Hylian in his or her teens. He could tell it was a Hylian; the tips of the ears created small bumps in the fabric of the hood. He drifted closer, wondering why someone would wear the hood up like that. To hide their identity?

The person in the cloak turned around. Myro was only a few feet away. He looked up at the girl's face. One thin gold braid had leaked from the hood, hanging down to her waist. He recognized her, though he had only seen her once or twice.

"Princess?"

Her blue eyes widened. She looked left and right. There was no way for her to escape quickly. She grabbed the front of Myro's cloak and leaned close.  
"How did you know? I haven't left the castle in seven years?"  
Seven years? He had seen glimpsed her walking with her ladies in waiting in the market just last week! He gasped for air. Without meaning too, she was half choking him.

Gipis flew out of his hiding place. "Let go!"

She dropped him in surprise. "A fairy!"

Myro grabbed Gipis. "I told you to stay hidden!"

Princess Zelda looked at him with new eyes. "Are you a Kokiri?"

Myro sighed. "Yes, your majesty."

"They're supposed to be extinct since year 256 AOoT."

Myro's mind reeled. Where he had come from, it was 100 AOoT. He took a deep breath.

"I think I might have time traveled, your highness."


	5. Chapter four: Lightmaker

Coat rack was in the kitchen with Merry, helping the small girl chop up vegetables. After a quick demonstration on the correct technique, he was already much better at it than the small girl. He questioned Joy's wisdom in letting her handle a knife. January dashed into the kitchen at top speed, a giant grin on his face.

"Merry! Dad and Kiln're home!"

Merry nodded, no expression on her face, and finished meticulously slicing the carrot. She scraped the small orange disks into a large pot, then set down the cutting board and knife. She took Coat rack's hand in her own and pulled him out through the kitchen door.

Outside, there seemed to be a commotion. A tall blonde man was attempting to drag a stubborn mule into the shed that seemed to be her home. Behind the two, a cart blocked the road, obviously what the mule had been pulling. It was piled impressively high with stacks of firewood that looked ready to tumble down any minute. Even more impressive, a teenager, Hylian like the rest of the family, clung to the wood near the top. Joy, who had been watching the man and the mule with amusement, looked up when Coat rack gasped. She followed his gaze.

"Kiln!" The teenager's head snapped around. "What have I told you? Get down here!"

Attempting to look as though it was his decision, the Hylian teen half climbed, half slid down the wood. He hit the ground and winced, shaking his hand around.

"Splinter," he muttered, prying at one of his fingers with his other hand.

"Well, what do you expect when you insist on climbing up there?" Joy turned from him and addressed Coat rack.

"Coat rack, this is my eldest son Kiln. Kiln, please at least try to be polite and greet our guest."

Kiln rolled his eyes and crouched, putting himself at the same height as Coat rack and extending his hand. "How do you do, Sir Coat rack?"

Coat rack wondered if Kiln was teasing or serious. "Um. It's just Coat rack."

Looking at Kiln's eyes, however, he decided he was teasing. Kiln was tall, taller than Joy, and thin for a human. Coat rack guessed how he had gotten the name Kiln; the boy's irises were a startling shade of orange that was nearly red, close to Coat rack's own eye color. Coat rack tried to remember if he had ever seen a Hylian with orange eyes before, but failed. The boy had black hair, springy dark bangs and long locks of hair hung in front of his elfin ears. He was dressed in a navy blue tunic with a black undershirt. Coat rack decided that was a wise choice; he himself was dressed in nothing but a hat, boots, gloves, and a pair of shorts, but Dekus didn't feel the change in temperature as much as some of the other races did.

"Are you going to help me or not, boy?"

Kiln hurriedly got to his feet. "Coming, Sam!"

Coat rack turned to Joy, confused. "Isn't that your husband?"

"Sam? Yes." A happy smile lit Joy's face. "Isn't he great?"

Ignoring the second question—He hadn't met Sam yet—Coat rack continued. "Shouldn't Kiln call him Dad or something?" Coat rack thought that was how families worked, though he had never had one himself.

"Oh, I see. No, Sam is my second husband. I had Kiln with my first." As if to prove her point, January hurtled out of the door and across the courtyard, yelling "DAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" He reached his dad and didn't stop running.

Sam fell over as the boy hit his back, dropping his load of wood. Coat rack watched Merry walk over to her father and pat him on the head.

_Author's Note: Soo, because I want to get the chapters 'back on schedule' but I don't want to make this too short, I thought I'd do a quick history lesson on this story. You don't have to read this; it's not that important to the plot. But if you were curious you could skim it._

_Out of all these characters, Katonju was the first. She used to be a part of an ongoing roleplay between me and my brother, but eventually two things happened; One, she became too Mary Sue, and two, the story had become unmanageable because we never finished anything. The characters never aged and never visited the same place twice. Plus, I was never happy with the fact that the group contained only humans and hylians. Still, I kept Katonju in mind._

_About a year later, I asked my friend Zaphodiop if she would want to do a Zelda roleplay. This time, trying to add diversity, I created a Kokiri boy named Myro, plus his fairy named Gipis, a pun on the abbreviation G.P.S. The positions were reversed a little; Myro was sweet and innocent and Gipis was shrewd and exploited his young charge for money and laughs. Around the same time I started doodleing this ninja in all my notebooks. I knew he or she was at least part sheikah, but I couldn't come up with anything more. My friend made up an amazing Twili character, but we both got distracted, and nothing else happened._

_After a while I asked my siblings if they wanted to do a Zelda roleplay. I introduced Myro, Gipis, and Katonju (again) and my brother mentioned he'd always wanted a rito and a deku character. I told him at least one of his characters had to be female, and he added a gerudo. Together we wrote the prologue. My sister had a zora character, but at the last moment pulled her from the story, leaving a hole I filled with Dar, stealing the name from Darr, my favorite character in a series of books. Later, this story's Zelda, whom I've taken to calling NerdZellie (you'll see) was created, along with Kiln. Those will be all the main characters, and now the plot can really take off! Here's a better 'hook' since I hate how short the spaces are to write it on _

_**There has always been the Triforce, and there have always been three. Power, Courage, and Wisdom. The powerful, always kept in check by the courageous and the wise, never really succeeding. But, those who are powerful are not necessarily stupid. Eventually, a way was found. Din thought she had won. But the balance was fragile. With one of the three so badly wounded, the world shuddered. Boundaries between times and realities slipped, faded, ripped. And Hyrule, attempting to defend itself, took the tools it needed. None were pure. None were perfect. But they were all that were left. They were the last line of defense for the princess. For the legend.**_

_**The Legend of Zelda: Lightmaker**_

_Whee, I like that. So, I'll *try* to have another chapter up this weekend; Reen, Aroon, hopefully some Myro and Zelda. Sorry for this overly long authors note!_


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